Cinnaminson 12U Team Surges Through National Tourney

Provided by Cinnaminson Cooperstown 12U team

The Cinnaminson “Cooperstown” 12U baseball team made a strong run through the “Live the Dream” tournament in Cooperstown, NY last week, competing amongst 104 teams from across the country and Canada.

The trip is truly the opportunity of a lifetime for both players and their families. The boys on the team grew as individuals as they bunked together with the coaches each night in dorms and only saw their families during the games.

The boys started each of their days early, waking at 5:30 a.m. to shower, eat, hit the batting cages, and be ready for their first game at 8:30 a.m. They could unwind for a couple of hours following their first game, but they needed to eat lunch and again go to the batting cages prior to the start of the next game.

The Pirates amassed a 5-0 record in their first five “Pool Play” games, only allowing 1.25 runs per game. During the six-game “Pool Play” portion of the event, the Pirates held claim as the No. 1 seed each day. In order to win these baseball games, teams must pitch well and every player on the Pirates team pitched in Cooperstown.

Wednesday began the second stage of the Dreams Park schedule, a single-loss elimination tournament. Our schedule began at 4 p.m. and was against a fellow New Jersey team. The boys battled all 6 innings and came out with a 10-5 win. We then faced a team from Connecticut and pulled out a great win with a four-inning mercy of 15-2. With this win, the Pirates moved on to the “Sweet Sixteen.” This is quite an accomplishment and the team was very excited.

That game was due to be played Thursday morning. However, a rainy forecast moved the game moved to Wednesday night, forcing the team to play three games on Wednesday. This makes for a long day of baseball. After battling a team from Virginia, that had an excellent pitcher, the Pirates wound up losing 13-6, ending a very long, exciting day and week. The Pirates defeated teams from California, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey during the tournament.

A special thanks to our coaches: head coach Len Colfer; assistant coaches Jim Sullivan, John Conville and Joe Sireci; our families, our neighbors, and the entire Cinnaminson community for all of your support. Without each of you, this team would not have been able to accomplish all that they did. They will treasure this experience for the rest of their lives. Each of these boys became greater team players, as well as great friends.

The Pirates racked up the following stats during the tournament:

• An overall record of 7-2
• Finished ranked as 15th team out of 104 teams
• 24 home runs
• Scored 104 runs
• Compiled 103 hits and 87 RBIs
• Let up an average of only 5.77 runs a game.
• In the team competition—“Around the Horn”—the Pirates placed 11th overall with a time of 25 seconds.

• Adam Farrell — Seven home runs (including one grand slam)
• Jake Perkins — Five home runs (including one grand slam)
• Kevin Conville — Four home runs
• Nicky Sullivan — Four home runs (Nicky hit HRs on his first at-bat and his final at-bat)
• Zach Robinson — Two home runs
• Zach Artur — One home run (a grand slam)
• Joe Sireci — One home run

Seated from left to right — Colin Peters, Matt Stavalone, Zach Robinson, Jack Fusco, Zach Artur and Jack Stokes

Middle row, standing left to right — Nicky Sullivan, Justin Dever, Adam Farrell, Jake Perkins, Kevin Conville, Drew Colfer and Joe Sireci

Back row standing left to right — assistant coaches Jim Sullivan, Joe Sireci, John Conville, head coach Len Colfer